Well Life: Born again

Is pineapple a fruit?

The pineapple “fruit” is not really a fruit at all but is a mass of individual berries fused to the central stalk. This is why the “fruit” has leaves on top. They are actually the continued growth of the stalk beyond where the berries are attached.

Pineapples are not grown from seed. The important commercial cultivars such as ‘Smooth Cayenne’ from Hawaii and ‘Red Spanish’ from the West Indies are self-sterile – the inconspicuous flowers are not capable of fertilizing their own eggs. Unless different cultivars are grown near each other (an unlikely occurrence in commercial plantations), the resulting fruits are seedless (parthenocarpic). Pineapples are readily reproduced by vegetative propagation, using crowns, slips, or suckers. The crown is the vegetative shoot on top of the fruit, and new plants take 2 years to produce fruit. Slips are side shoots from just below the fruit. Plants from slips take 20 months to produce fruit. Suckers are side shoots that develop from the main stem at ground level, and take 17 months to produce fruit.
Each plant that is propagated produces one fruit at the top of its stem. This high quality fruit is called the “plant” crop. After the fruit is harvested, several suckers develop and one year later produce the “ratoon” crop. The fruits are smaller and of lesser quality. A second ratoon crop can develop after the first crop is harvested. After that, the field is dug up and replanted.
Pineapple fruit quality is at its best only if the fruit matures on the plant. They do not become sweeter if harvested earlier since there are no starch reserves to be converted to sugar. The sugar content must come from the rest of the plant.
Pineapples are 15% sugar along with malic and citric acids. In areas near where it is grown, a pineapple wine is fermented. It does not store well so it is rarely seen outside of the tropics. Pineapples also contain bromelain, a protein digesting and milk-clotting enzyme similar to pepsin. Bromelain is used commercially to tenderize meat and chill-proof beer. The bromelain may account for the belief that pineapples are good for our digestion.

Shock the Body & Save Time

This health tips comes early for July. It's a four week plan so I'm posting it now. The summer is busy and it is also time to change up routines. It's what most call shocking the body. Men's Health published this plan several years ago. I do this work out about every six months or so to rest the muscles from heavy lifting. But don't get me wrong this is a serious workout still .

Check it out by clicking the header.

Ref: keyword lookup: Big Exercise. ( I call it Push Pull.)

Play Ball

USC Gamecocks

in College World Series action tonight.

Good Luck Guys!

It Is Well Even When It Doesn't Go My Way

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.

Proverbs 19:21

Indie Craft Parade

Click The Title Above To Find out About The Indie Craft Parade

Gamecocks Continue To Win

On To The College World Series

Pixy Stix and Sweet Tarts

What does the Summertime favorite Pixy Stix candy have in common with Sweet Tarts?

Pixy Stix used to be made by Sunline which started in 1952 in St. Louis, Missouri. Originally it was a drink mix in the late 1930s, sold as Frutola, but J. Fish Smith found that kids were eating the sweet & sour powder right from the package. He shifted the name to Fruzola and added a spoon. Later it was repackaged with a dipping candy stick as Lik-M-Aid and also sold in little straws called Pixy Stix. It wasn’t until parents complained about the grainy, sticky powder that Sunline came up with a compressed tablet form, the SweeTart in 1963

Outdoor smell

It happens at the most inconvenient time. Who would ever think that you can smell worst after taking a shower than before? If you have to meet anyone it is extremely embarrassing. You have just splashed on the best cologne you have and walked outside to your car when you notice something. Some notice it faster than others and some don't even notice it at all. It's a smell with the strength of a hard day’s work. But, you just showered minutes ago. The odor is (how can I best describe it?) a metal or chemical smell.




I am not the only one this happens to. I have checked the internet for answers. I know that there must be a scientist somewhere that can come up with an explanation, but as of yet there seems to be only questions. When the cause is found out will there be a new deodorant of some sort that deactivates the way that chemical reacts?

If you experience this or know any reason for the smell, post something about it. Maybe we'll be able to create a new deodorant.

A Sweet Smell In The Air

A Sweet Sweet Smell In The Air

by C. F. Legette

Each step he makes is short, slow but sure, just like that pet turtle that he has in a tray in his room. Ethan advances slowly but with steadfast determination. This could very well be the last time; so, Ethan will try and make this meeting last as long as he can.

The old man is waiting patiently as he always does. His face is mostly hidden. A large soiled straw-hat sits on his head and the front brim flops down almost to his nose. His long gray beard starts just below his nose and spreads all the way down to his chest exposing only his crusted lips. Closer inspection shows that the beard is actually more salt and pepper in color than gray. Ethan doesn’t realize it but his face is so mixed with different emotions that it makes him look a little unusual.

He is happy but he is nervous and also sad. Inside, his stomach feels as if it is doing somersaults one right after the other. This is a very serious time and he is old enough to know it. Before he gets to the old man, Ethan checks his posture out to make sure that his back is as straight as he can get it as he walks.

“Firm…a firm hand shake.”

He repeats the words inside his head. Then, as usual, he reaches out to the old man. A craggy hand touches his in a firm hand shake. That is what he has been taught years ago by this same old man. Ethan has his head up and his eyes look directly into the old man’s eyes. For a second Ethan’s mind wonders back.

“A handshake is a statement of who you are. It shows some of your character.”

The old man had said this so many times before:

1. Stand up straight with your shoulders square.

2. Keep your head straight and give good eye contact.

3. Your grip should be firm (not like a dead fish).

4. A man always gives a man’s handshake.

5. Give respect and respect is what you will receive

At first, it is hard for a boy to stand up straight and look an adult directly in their eyes like that. But, Ethan does it every time now. That’s one reason the old man has a special place in his heart now. Ethan can’t remember exactly when

the old man came to live with them. It seems like he has always been around

because that fruit smell goes back a long time. Each day the old man brought something new to our attention.

Now however, things are changing.

After they shake hands the old man slowly lowers his body to sit on the bench that he often sits on when they talk. Like always, he asks Ethan to sit beside him. Only this time, he leans to whisper something to Ethan. Before the words enter his ear, Ethan notices that smell again. As always, the smell reminds him of something. It’s like fruit, no specific one but just fruit. Ethan can never quite...

The Answer Is Closer Than You Think

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock,

and it shall be opened unto you:

For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth;

 and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Matthew 7:7-8